Minutes of the July 18, 2005 Board meeting

Law enforcement update: L.A. County Sheriff's Department Team Leader Brain Sanford is monitoring the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Facility, and thus far no problems have been observed. Joe Zizi emailed an announcement that his successor as the new California Highway Patrol representative will be Officer Raquel Stage. She can be reached at rstage@chp.ca.gov in Santa Fe Springs.

The Program was to have included a representative from the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Facility, which was the second attempt to have someone appear at the meeting. Many residents attended this meeting for questions and answers, but were disappointed at the outcome. Nevertheless, the audience remained at the meeting to express their discontentment of having this facility in our community to the Board and County representatives. Dickie Simmons, deputy to Supervisor Don Knabe, Carlos Illingworth, Field Representative to Assemblyman Ronald S. Calderon, and reporter Shirley Hsu of the San Gabriel Tribune listened attentively to all the comments. Deputy Dickie Simmons stated that the County does not want this facility in our residential community and made several efforts to prevent it from being located here. Supervisor Knabe secured an emergency ordinance to delay the opening and extended it for an additional 15 days so that Regional Planning could study the issues and the facility's potential impact on Hacienda Heights: possible criminal behavior by the clients and attraction to school children.The court ruled in favor of keeping the facility open. Residents are encouraged to be very alert for any activities of detriment to the community and to report them to the Sheriff. Building and Safety Superintendent Peter Wang will also monitor the facility.

Mr. Simmons also reported that there will be a community development meeting in Rowland Heights on September 22 and invited everyone to be present to discuss a wide variety of issues. He announced that the storm drains should be completed by the end of August with new paving, and that the 7th Avenue Trailhead will be completed by September.

Mr. Illingworth was requested to convey the concerns of the residents about the marijuana facility to Assemblyman Calderon, who was invited to attend the next Board meeting.

David Wysocki, head of the Hacienda Heights Branch County Library, announced that there will be a new parking lot for the library, 700 students signed up for the summer reading program, and the current budget is good. He urged everyone to support the June election for additional bond funds for the regional library.

President Williams expressed appreciation to the churches and scout troops who supported the Jim Davis Beautification Day activity, and to the businesses which provided water and refreshments to the volunteers.